


Like a Turtle with a Purpose

by thehorrorinsymmetry



Series: Complimenting Parts [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pre-Relationship, finn's a doctor poe's a pilot and they both have a terrible sleep schedule, trans poe since this is the same universe as that last one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 12:37:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11691792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehorrorinsymmetry/pseuds/thehorrorinsymmetry
Summary: Finn's just craving some cookies at the end of a long shift.





	Like a Turtle with a Purpose

Finn's feet drag on the linoleum as he walks into the grocery store.

It's as dead inside as it always is at this time - the one pro about coming here in the middle of the night. There are only a handful of people slowly roaming the aisles, most of whom are probably coming from the hospital too.

He tries to keep from dawdling, all too aware of the weight of the beeper on his hip, of every second that passes without him passed out on his bed. He hasn't come to browse but he goes through the produce section anyway, picking up some apples because he really needs to get out of the post-shift habit he's let himself slip into here.

He passes by several aisles, his heart skipping a beat when he turns into the one he wants and sees him.

The really stunningly gorgeous man that seems to be here half the time Finn is.

The man that Rey has taken to calling Cute Grocery Store Guy ever since Finn made the mistake of telling her about him.

Finn doesn't recognize him from the hospital - he would absolutely remember a face like that - but the man has to be at least his age, probably a few years older, too old to be a student taking a break from an all nighter.

They've never spoken, running parallel to each other in the candy aisle but never quite meeting. They've made eye contact a handful of times and the man smiled at him each time - dimples peeking out on his perpetually stubbled cheeks - but he's hardly going to try to talk to a stranger in an empty grocery store in the middle of the night.

Even if he is painfully cute.

He steels himself and forces his feet to begin moving again before Cute Grocery Store Guy notices him staring.

Okay, so maybe it's started to stick in his head, too.

Of course Cute Grocery Store Guy is standing in front of the cookies - Finn's prime target for this trip. Finn turns and pretends to browse the chips he has absolutely no interest in, hoping to wait the man out.

He takes a step, eyeing the man from the corner of his vision as he reads the chip flavours, dying a little more with every moment that he doesn't have those oreos in his hands.

A minute passes.

Cute Grocery Store Guy is still standing in the same spot.

And another.

Finn sighs.

He edges closer and closer, until he's a few feet away. The man is standing just past the oreos - the _one_ box of original oreos left.

Like hell he’s going to settle for mint.

He reaches out, glancing down the aisle so he can pretend to ignore how close they are but instead of the thin cardboard of the box, he feels something warm against his hand.

He jumps. The man stares at him, his mouth dropping open to reveal a slight gap between his front teeth. He laughs quietly, an utterly gorgeous sound. “Oh, sorry, man. You can have them.”

“No!” The word escapes without thought. He clears his throat. “Uh, you were here first, it's fine.”

Cute Grocery - the man smiles again, shaking his head. “Really, it's fine, I can get something else.”

He bites his lip. Absolutely on no account should he ask the man - the _stranger_ \- to share the cookies. He doesn't know if he's gay. He doesn't even know if he's actually nice, or if he could secretly be an ax murderer.

The man said he could have them. He should just take them and go and maybe find a different grocery store for his late night junk runs.

“We could, uh, share them? If you want.”

Fuck.

The man smiles, his eyes crinkling. “Yeah, okay.”

Oh _fuck_.

He blinks. “Okay.”

This is utterly ridiculous. He handled med school no problem, got into his first choice for a residency program, but a cute guy smiles at him and his entire vocabulary goes out the window?

He really needs to get some sleep.

The man is still smiling at him, though. He holds his hand out. “I'm Poe.”

“Finn.” He takes Poe's hand.

Poe smiles at him again. “It's good to meet you, Finn.”

 

\--

 

They end up at a diner down the road because Finn does at least have some semblance of a self-preservation instinct.

It's almost four, there's about a hundred reasons that Finn should be asleep right now, but none come to mind when Poe asks if he feels like a meal.

They order breakfast.

Poe grins at him as their waitress leaves with their menus. “So, what's a guy like you doing in a grocery store in the middle of the night?”

“Uh, just finished my shift. I work at the children’s hospital.”

“Oh, wow! What do you do there?”

“I'm a resident.”

Poe blinks. “Like a doctor? That's amazing, Finn.”

Heat rushes through his face. “Oh, thank you. I uh, it's great. But the hours are pretty ridiculous.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Poe laughs. “I'm a pilot, so I kind of get that.”

Finn has to consciously stop himself from sighing. Of course he is. “That's really cool. Are you just visiting here, then?”

“Oh, no,” Poe shakes his head. “I've lived here since I was a kid. I just got back from a pretty long holdover in Europe so I thought I'd celebrate finally getting back.”

He blinks. “With oreos?”

Poe shrugs. “I never said it was going to be a big celebration.”

He laughs. “No, that's a great way to celebrate.”

Poe's eyes sparkle as he grins, resting his chin on his hand. “See, I knew you'd have good taste.”

“You could tell that just from oreos?”

“Oh yeah, I'm a real good judge of character.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Yeah?

Poe nods. “I -”

Poe pauses as the waitress brings their food over. Finn can't help but feel a twinge of frustration at having been interrupted before he could figure out if Poe was flirting or just really nice.

It's probably the latter. When was the last time someone was interested him? Let alone someone like Poe. He sighs. “So where in Europe were you?”

Poe glances up from his plate. “Copenhagen.”

“Wow. It must be amazing to be able to just travel all over the place like that.”

Poe shrugs. “It was for a while, when I was younger, but.” Poe bites his lip, looking to the side. “It's still great, it's just - it would be nice to not go alone every single time, yeah?”

Finn thinks about the empty apartment waiting for him. “Yeah.”

Poe smiles. “So what's it like being a big deal doctor?”

He laughs. “I have no idea, man. I can ask my boss, if you want, but I'm just a resident.”

Poe’s brows knit together. “What’s the difference?”

“Well, I’m still in training, kind of - I’m a second year resident so I’ve got about two and a half left until I could work as an attending.” He shrugs. “Even then, I could do a fellowship program to further specialize.”

It’s something he’s said countless times before, well practiced, but Poe’s frown only deepens. “So you’re saying you’re ‘just’ a doctor? At one of the best children’s hospitals?”

He blinks. When was the last time he saw someone unironically use air quotes? “Well you don’t normally get to know someone by bragging about all of your achievements.”

“Of course you do. Have I not told you about the time I was flying a 787 full of orphans and had to fly it halfway across the Atlantic on one engine?” Poe breathes a laugh, glancing down at where he’s pushing some hashbrowns across his plate. “So you’re getting to know me, huh?”

“I think so.” He leans back against the booth. “I’m pretty wiped, though. I could just be hallucinating this.”

A grin spreads across Poe’s face. Finn wonders if he’ll ever get used to that. “I hope not.”

Probably not.

“It’s good, though? The just a doctor gig?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Some days are better than others, and I can’t remember what it’s like to have actual free time, but yeah. I like it.”

Poe’s eyebrows raise up his forehead. “You have enough time to have dinner - breakfast? - with a stranger.”

He shrugs, his stomach fluttering. “I really wanted those oreos.”

They end up staying at the diner for nearly two hours - nobody seems to mind, considering only one other person comes in the whole time - and then another half hour sitting in Poe’s car in the parking lot, eating oreos until he can make himself call it a night.

He’s absolutely going to be feeling this for a few days.

He doesn’t mind.

They trade phone numbers, his heart thudding as Poe smiles and says they should do this again. He leaves the rest of the oreos in Poe’s care and really, really hopes that he sounds chill when he says he’ll keep them next time.

He is extremely overtired but he knows it wasn’t just some dream, has the receipt in his pocket and Poe’s number in his phone.

His mind is still whirling as he collapses onto his bed, his exhaustion hitting him all over again.

He hopes he’ll see Poe again.

**Author's Note:**

> sfklsjf i wrote this at work last week this universe has really gotten to me lmao i have one more ficlet already finished and like 100 more that i really want to write
> 
> comments and kudos are v appreciated
> 
> hope you enjoyed!!


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